Credit Suisse hired him to take the bank into a digital future. However, he has decided his own prospects are better served elsewhere and will now join a smaller rival firm.

The departure of Holger Spielberg is no doubt a major setback that will hurt Credit Suisse (CS). The head of innovation at the Digital Private Bank has surprisingly announced his exit from the number two Swiss bank.

Spielberg is believed to have signed a contract as group technology officer at Aareal Bank in Wiesbaden, Germany and will take up his job on July 1, 2016, the company announced recently. In his new role he will coordinate the IT strategy of the bank and take on innovation management.

Disruptive Thinker

The 48-year-old German joined CS two years ago as Managing Director of Digital Private Banking and head of innovation. He had Previously worked for PayPal, the Internet payment service provider.

Spielberg had ambitious plans for CS. He wanted to build innovation laboratories in Zurich and Silicon Valley, from where disruptive thinking and impulses would alter the way banks are operating.